Media Contact: Joanna Norris, Associate Director, Department of Public Relations
via UNF Press Release:

A new University of North Florida poll shows that among Jacksonville voters in potential voting matchups with Republican candidates, President Barack Obama tied with Mitt Romney, but he leads Gov. Rick Perry and Herman Cain.

The survey was conducted through the use of Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing at a 27-station polling laboratory at UNF. A sample of the polling universe was selected through the use of Random-Digit-Dialing methodology. An additional cell phone sample is used to increase representation as well as an overlay sample. Gender and ethnic origin are weighted to statistics from the Supervisor of Elections for Duval County registered voters.

The survey was conducted between Nov. 7 and Nov. 15 and includes 574 likely Jacksonville voters. Margin of error for the entire sample is +/- 4.03. Approximately 120 UNF political science students participated in the data collection.

Among the findings:

• Of the respondents polled, President Barack Obama has a 41 percent approval rating and a 53 percent disapproval rating.
• If the election for president were held today, 40 percent said they would vote for Barack Obama, while 40 percent said they would vote for Mitt Romney.
• When asked if the election were between Obama and Perry, 45 percent said they would vote for Obama, while 33 percent said they would vote for Perry.
• When asked if the election were held today between Herman Cain or Obama, 45 percent of voters indicated they would vote for Obama. Thirty-six percent would vote for Cain.
• Seventy-four percent of respondents said the most important issue facing the nation today is the economy and jobs.
• Almost 50 percent of respondents polled said they did not support the Tea Party political movement, while 37 percent said they did support the movement.
• The current super committee of 12 in Congress is looking at ways to reduce federal government spending. When asked which of the following areas—national defense, Social Security or Medicare—should spending be reduced the most, 54 percent said spending should not be cut in any of these areas, while 23 percent said national defense. Eight percent said Medicare should be reduced and 3 percent said Social Security should be reduced.
• When asked how Congress should try to reduce the long-term debt of the United States, more than 50 percent said a mixture of reductions in spending and tax increases; 38 percent said large reductions in government spending; and 5 percent said large increases in revenue and taxes.